The total path of the solar eclipse could change on Monday, and experts are now urging people to travel to different locations to see the celestial event.
Amateur astronomer John Irwin released a new map of the 115-mile path from Maine to Texas that has revealed its change by about 2,000 feet.
The updated estimate has suggested that people in places like Rome, New York, Effingham, Illinois, and some areas of Fort Worth, Texas, will no longer be able to get a perfect view of the eclipse.
Approximately 34 million people are expected to view the eclipse, but hundreds of thousands of spectators will now be left out of the immediate path and will not be able to view the event.
The solar eclipse (pictured) will stretch 115 miles from Maine to Texas on Monday, but astronomers say the path of totality has shifted 2,000 feet.
As people prepare to travel to view the solar eclipse, Irwin’s report suggests that the path of totality, which has been projected for months, could be slightly off.
Irwin is part of a team analyzing the solar eclipse event for the Besselian Elements and, according to the websiteThey reported that the adjustment takes into account “topographic elevation both around the Moon’s limb and on the Earth’s surface.”
Topographic elevation is the adjustment of how close the Earth is to the sun, taking into account mountainous regions that would slightly alter the path of totality.
“By taking into account the topography of both the Moon and Earth, accurate eclipse prediction has drawn attention to a small but real uncertainty about the size of the Sun,” a NASA spokesperson told Dailymail.com.
He added that uncertainty about Earth’s rotation could also affect predictions about the path the eclipse will take.
The map shows a series of lines: red lines indicate where the path of totality was supposed to be, and orange lines represent the new setting.
NASA said there is “a small but real uncertainty about the size of the Sun,” adding that it could lead to a narrower path of totality.
However, despite reports that the path has changed, NASA said it will not alter its predictions.
“Calculations using a slightly larger radius for the size of the Sun produce an eclipse path that is slightly narrower,” said Dr. Michael Kirk, a research scientist in the Heliophysical Sciences Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. . exciting.
“This difference would only affect cities at the very edge of the path of totality, where general predictions are difficult anyway: a few city blocks one way or another could mean 20, 10 or 0 seconds of totality.” .
However, the change will be so minimal that people who have traveled to the area will likely not have to relocate, making the expected cloudiness in some areas a greater concern.
Kapila Castoldi, a physics processor at Oakland University, said that even if the new calculation was correct, “the differences are so small” that it won’t matter to most viewers.
But to be safe, NASA told DailyMail.com that for those on the edges of the road, it might be worth traveling closer to the center to ensure a good view.
“Traveling toward the center of the path of totality, even a mile or two, will rapidly increase the length of totality that people can see,” the space agency spokesperson said.
People in cities like Dallas, Indianapolis, Buffalo and Cleveland will still see the projected four minutes of the total solar eclipse.